Feds planning $1.9 million ad campaign to fight drug-impaired driving

The federal government is preparing to spend about $2 million this year on an ad campaign warning about the consequences of drug-impaired driving, as the Liberals move to legalize the recreational use of marijuana.

A Public Safety Canada tender that closes later this week is asking for bids to plan and create a “multi-media, multi-phased social marketing and advertising campaign” that will “raise awareness amongst Canadians that cannabis, and other drugs, impairs driving ability and that [drug impaired driving] is illegal,” and warn that driving high on pot can be just as dangerous as drunk driving.

The estimated cost for the media buy is $1.9 million for fiscal year 2017-2018, with “ongoing years” (up to 2022) listed as “to be determined”.

The campaign would primarily target teens and young adults between the ages of 16 to 24, with secondary audiences including parents, other levels of government and various other opinion leaders.

“Many Canadians who do not consume cannabis are concerned about drug-impaired drivers on the roads, and recent public opinion research has shown that many of those who do consume cannabis do not necessarily understand that it impairs driving,” the tender reads.

It points to previous government polling research which found that some 27 per cent of Canadians who have used cannabis have driven while impaired, raising the possibility that too many Canadians already think it’s safe to do so.

The tender also points out that only 86 per cent of Canadians polled think that marijuana can impair driving – and it notes that a few participants in Health Canada focus groups had even said they believe some people are better drivers when under the influence of cannabis.

The Liberal government plans to legalize recreational use of marijuana by July next year, but the federal Tories have predicted that impaired driving rates likely will go up afterward.

U.S. States, including Washington and Colorado, saw an increase in drug impaired driving after using pot recreationally became legal, and this week the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police said officers are expecting an increase in incidences of drug impaired driving after C-45 becomes law.

The Liberals have said that their companion bill, C-46, will bring in a new, strict impaired driving regime.

The 2017 federal budget says that Health Canada also will be putting $9.6 million over five years toward marijuana public education programming.